


Cursed Blood

by Kendrak98



Category: Hololive, Virtual Streamer Animated Characters, holoMyth
Genre: Action, AmeSame, Angst, Blood and Violence, Creative Freedom, Creative License, Dark, Drama & Romance, F/F, Flashbacks, Friendship, Mild Gore, Takamori, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:08:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29766348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kendrak98/pseuds/Kendrak98
Summary: It had been almost a year and a half now since the five girls entered Hololive. HoloMyth was such a perfect name for peculiar beings like them.Amelia was so happy about being able to spend some time her genmates. In all that time, the detective had the chance to create such beautiful memories with them. She felt a little guilty about constantly having to lie. After all, Amelia was the only one who knew the truth.She was the only one who knew what happened in her past and what would have happened in their future.The only one to really know what HoloMyth was supposed to be originally and why she had to change it.
Relationships: Gawr Gura/Watson Amelia (hololive), Mori Calliope/Takanashi Kiara, Ninomae Ina'nis/???
Comments: 68
Kudos: 160





	1. Misplaced

The sun was slowly setting on that early summer day. The sky was changing colors, slowly turning in various shades of red, almost sanguine. As much as she was trying to push away, those gruesome visions were inevitable. Dark blood colored the warm asphalt. Noises of broken bones and screams echoed in her ears. It had been so long since she experienced all those horrors, but despite that, it was impossible to forget. An eerie snicker kept ringing in her head, creepy and mischievous. Her friends and companions, so close and yet so distant. She wanted to save her. She wanted to save them all. Heck, she even wanted to save herself. Too bad that all those times she had been just a nobody, unknown and alone.

Amelia Watson jolted awake. Her bed felt wet and sticky. The detective ran a hand through her sweaty blond hair, breathing deeply. She could hear her heart beating wildly. She got out of bed and sat down on it. The time traveler coughed violently, quickly putting her right hand to her mouth while her stomach was giving her a vague sense of nausea. She took a few more moments to breathe and calm down. Those sounds and those visions were so vivid. After all that time she still could feel them clearly. Was it because the fateful moment was approaching?

Amelia looked around her checking on her room. A dim light filtered its way through the window curtains. It was still early in the morning. The detective widened her eyes a little and got up from the bed stretching her arms. _Stupid dreams. This is not the time to be afraid_. Filled with newborn determination, she shook her anxiety off and moved toward her desk. There was a mirror next to it, attached to the wardrobe. She looked carefully into her reflected blue eyes. _Two days left._

Since she was now awake and unable to go back to sleep, Amelia quickly made breakfast and started preparing the stream she was going to do a few hours later. It was shortly after dawn so she wasn’t surprised about being the only one around the house. Her roommates and friends were still asleep at that time. She didn't mind having some time for herself, but in her heart she much preferred to eat all together. She was happy in the HoloMyth house. It had been about two months since all the members of the first generation of Hololive English had moved together in the house assigned to them on the Cover Campus.

The Cover Campus was a great initiative for the talents that Cover Corp had gathered. A kind of small village within a suburban town in Japan. A place where the various talents could be themselves, considering that among them there were kemonomimis, devils, dragons, phoenixes and other beasts and legendary creatures. Inside the Campus there were many comforts. There was no ban on going out, although going out meant that the Hololive members could potentially scare the normal humans that lived just outside the campus.

Amelia’s stream had been over for an hour. She had plenty of fun playing while chatting with her fans. Lots of salt, gremlin laughs and even one of her stories about yet another incident she had when she was younger. After the stream, the time traveler spent some time staring at nothing in particular with a dazed and absent gaze, while a river of thoughts was running inside her head. At one point, she slowly pulled a photo from a hidden pocket in her coat. Every day and every night she looked at that photo as if it were the most precious thing in the world. She carefully observed every single detail of the three figures that appeared in the image. She gritted her teeth vigorously, then, after hearing some kind of whimpering from outside her room, she put the photo away and headed to the common living room.

Kiara Takanashi had a particularly worried and anxious expression on her face while her two large purple eyes were fixed on Calliope Mori. "I told you they were quite flimsy." The reaper said apprehensively. "Don't worry now, I bought a spare wire, we'll fix it."

"Sorry Calli" the phoenix continued, with tears in her eyes. In her hands she held the bracelet that Calliope had given her about a year ago. The string had snapped and all its small pieces had been placed on the kitchen table.

"Don't apologize. I'm glad you care so much, but it's just a bracelet" Calli sighed unknowingly showing a half smile.

"No! It is not a simple bracelet! It is the object that symbolizes our eternal love and one of my greatest treasures!" Kiara started babbling at the pink-haired girl.

"Ugh, why do you have to make it weird Kusotori?" Calli snorted. After the phoenix's departure, the reaper had been much kinder to her. However, since they had found themselves living together now, Calli almost involuntarily returned to behave with more coldness, although from time to time she would be flustered by the phoenix’s bold advances. "I'm going to fix it now. You stay here."

"Yes ma’am!" Kiara exclaimed with newfound gaiety. She turned slightly, moving her gaze to the detective who was standing in front of her bedroom door, and at Ina who was lying on the sofa still half sleepy. "By the way, I’m going to prepare lunch soon. Ina remember that today is your turn with the cleaning"

Ina yawned loudly. She had done one of the longest streams she had ever done the night before, ending up going to bed particularly late. "Yes, yes ... Don't worry"

Amelia threw herself on the large sofa that was the protagonist in the common living room of the HoloMyth House, alongside the priestess. "Hey Ina, do you mind if I turn on the TV?"

"Go ahead." she answered yawning again. As per usual, the time traveler didn’t even waited her response since she ended up turning on the television immediately after asking the question.

"Is the shark still streaming?" Amelia asked as she zapped through the various Japanese TV shows.

"I think so." Ina's eyes were slowly closing as if the priestess was about to fall back asleep. Amelia continued to fumble with the remote as she glanced at the dark-haired girl. A sweet, melancholy smile formed on her face, but it disappeared immediately as she saw Ina suddenly widen her eyes.

"Wah! I forgot that I have an appointment at the central offices this afternoon." Ina said quickly, settling herself on the sofa in a more composed position.

"Uh! Yeah! Do you realize that you could actually become the mama for a new member of Hololive?" Amelia said implying a moderate sense of pride towards the priestess.

"It seems so surreal to me! But I already have so many ideas. Ah! Now I'm anxious!" Ina began to rhythmically move her foot taken by the excitement.

"Uh ... Ina mama, it sounds good." Amelia let one of her typical gremlin-like giggle out.

"Don't groundpound me, please!" the priestess and the detective burst out laughing together. Soon after, they were interrupted by Gura's bedroom door opening with force followed by a loud "Hoocha!"

"Hey Gura! Did you finish the stream?” Ina asked after calming down. The shark girl looked at both of them. For a moment she felt a pang in her chest seeing the two of them so close together, but it quickly disappeared when her eyes met Amelia's. "Yes! Just finished. I am making some good progress. Soon I'll be the best Minecraft speedrunner ever!"

"Keep dreaming." The detective chuckled playfully. "At least if I die in-game I don't blame the ping" Gura retorted, returning the mischievous smile.

The two girls began to make fun of each other. It was something completely normal at that point. Ina looked at them laughing joyfully at the jokes they were saying to each other, adding some puns where possible. She just couldn't resist.

"Lunch is ready!" Kiara declared, raising her voice. The phoenix had thought of practically everything, as per usual. The table was already set and the food was warm and was giving off an inviting smell. Somehow Kiara had taken on the role of mom in the HoloMyth House.

Gura, Ina and Amelia walked up to the table suddenly feeling extremely hungry. Calli also appeared from her room at the call of the phoenix. The reaper knew that when Kiara said that the food was ready, one had to move quickly, otherwise they would have ended up with a lecture. Before sitting down, the reaper neared the phoenix and moved her own gaze away from hers. "Here" she said, putting the now fixed bracelet on Kiara’s wrist.  
"Oh my God! Calli! You're so sweet! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" the phoenix began repeating. Her smile was showing a deep and sincere happiness. On the other hand, Calli's expression became more and more embarrassed, and at that point her cheeks were showing a strong blush. The other three girls enjoyed the scene, giggling among themselves. "Just get married already"

"I'll start streaming now, see you later," Calli said, opening her bedroom’s door. Gura and Ina simply nodded while Kiara blew her a kiss, which caused the reaper to blush and gulp “Guh!”. The three girls sat on the sofa playing a fighting game together. It was a quiet afternoon. Outside the temperature was starting to rise since summer had come. The shark girl, the priestess and the phoenix were enjoying the game, having fun at playfully teasing each other. Although the house was built to have good soundproofing in each room, they knew that since Calli was about to start her stream, It would have been wise to try not to do too much noise.

Amelia stood slightly on the sidelines, relaxing on the brown armchair. She kept yawning while making fun of the three players who often made absurd and hilarious plays. From time to time the detective's gaze diverted from the big television screen to her three friends on the sofa. She watched them carefully. One with compassion, one with dejection, and one with a slight sense of fear. She tried as much as possible to let those emotions of hers shine through as little as possible. Fortunately, since the three girls were focused on their game, they didn't pay much attention to it. The only one who noticed that something was wrong in Amelia's heart was Gura who often searched for the detective’s gaze.

"Hey Ina, it's almost three o'clock. Shouldn't you go to the central offices?” Said the detective as soon as her eyes got caught by the shark girl’s ones.

"You're right! I was about to forget. Tonight I also have the off collab with Iofi." Ina jumped up from the sofa taking a look at herself, interrupting the in-game match in progress. She was still wearing her pajamas. "I better get ready." She moved quickly, entering her bedroom, from which the other girls could hear quite the clattering coming out. The other girls giggled as Amelia moved from the chair to the sofa in order to take the Priestess's place in the game they were playing.

A few minutes later Ina came out of the room with her bag and various equipment. She glanced quickly at the phone noting that the hour of meeting was approaching. "I'm going! I won’t be here for dinner!" she said as she walked up to the front door. A dark and serious expression appeared on Amelia's face as she saw Ina open the door. Gura noticed the shift on the time traveler’s expression immediately, but she couldn't say anything about it as her attention moved to the phoenix. "Hey! Ina! Today was your turn with the cleaning!"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry! I promise I'll do it first thing in the morning, mom!" she said she walked away giggling. Kiara puffed out her cheeks and pouted. Her mouth bent vaguely into a smirk. It was a clear sign of how her anger was more of a joke than anything else. Even if she felt genuine irritation towards the priestess, it was impossible at that moment to maintain such an expression considering that the shark girl and the detective were laughing heartily. A contagious laugh that took the phoenix too after a couple of seconds.  
  
They continued to play for nearly an hour. The girls had their schedules well memorized. By now they had found a way to maximize their free time while continuing to work hard on the various projects they had in store for their respective fans. It wasn’t a strange thing for them to just have some fun time together gaming and chatting without streaming it.

Suddenly Amelia began to cough, immediately bringing her hand in front of her mouth. "Hey Watson, are you okay?" Gura asked in a slightly worried voice. "Yes, yes, everything is ok," Amelia replied without taking her hand away from her face. "I just have to go to the bathroom. Give me a couple of minutes." Amelia stood up, leaving the controller on the sofa. Gura and Kiara watched her walk away. They could easily understand that she was forcing a smile from under the hand she held over her mouth. "We'll be waiting for you then" Kiara noted, pausing the game.

As Amelia entered the bathroom, she closed the door and kept coughing for a minute. _Damn. It hurts._ She turned on the faucet and started cleaning her hands. The water turned a vermilion red as the detective scrupulously removed the blood residues from her skin, careful not to stain her clothes. She rinsed her face, running her fingers over the right corner of her mouth, which was also stained with blood. Once her face and hands dried, she looked up, focusing on her reflection in the mirror. She looked at herself carefully with blazing eyes. _It's your last chance Watson. You can do it._

The detective slowly opened the bathroom door bringing her gaze to her two friends who were chatting in the living room. It had been almost a year and a half now since the five of them entered HoloMyth. It was so nice to be able to spend some time with them. In all that time Amelia had created such beautiful memories with them. The time traveler felt a little guilty about constantly having to lie. After all, Amelia was the only one who knew the truth. She was the only one who knew what happened in her past and what would have happened in their future. The only one to know that HoloMyth was supposed to be a group of four, not five people. That sense of guilt stung her deeply. From time to time she felt an impostor. She felt misplaced. However, all those doubts were mere obstacles to something greater. Amelia Watson had a mission. _It's time. I must tell them. It’s the only way._


	2. Photograph

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You are doing it for their good too. They will believe you. They trust you"
> 
> It's time for them to learn the truth about Amelia Watson.

Amelia Watson stood in front of the bathroom door, watching her two friends who were still waiting for her. Her hands were shaking slightly. _Buck up Amelia_ , she thought. _You are doing it for their good too_. _They will believe you. They trust you._ The detective clenched her fists hard. She felt a lump in her throat and a twinge in her heart. She had worked hard for this moment. She had suffered just as much. Despite all the time spent with them, despite their deep friendship, Amelia couldn't help but think that things were going to go wrong once again. She shook her head with decision then she cleared her throat making herself noticed by Kiara and Gura.  
  
"Are you okay Ame?" The phoenix immediately asked. Amelia smiled briefly, then, in a moment, her face became extremely serious. "It’s all right. I'm fine" The detective replied with a cold voice. Both the phoenix and the shark girl were a little startled by the sudden change of tone. "We have to talk. I need you to listen to me. It's really, really important." Kiara and Gura exchanged a questioning look, then returned their eyes to the detective. "Tell us Watson. We listening to you." Gura hinted at a worried smile. Amelia's cold expression didn’t change in the slightest. She looked intently at both girls who were still sitting on the sofa. Then she motioned them to follow her as she approached the large kitchen table.  
  
A couple of minutes had passed, but still the three girls were in silence. There was great tension in the air. The detective, the phoenix and the shark girl were sitting at the table. The first kept checking her watch, stamping her foot impatiently. The other two were exchanging questioning glances not really understanding what was happening. Despite that, they somehow hesitated to speak. Finally, Kiara broke the silence by drawing Amelia's attention. "What are we waiting for Ame? What did you want to talk about?"  
  
The time traveler sighed deeply. "Calli. Calli is still missing." The two girls sitting across the table now looked even more confused. "She started her stream less than two hours ago. Chances are that she will continue for some time more. Moreover Ina is missing too, right?" Gura said shyly. For some reason Amelia's seriousness made her particularly uncomfortable. They were usually so cheerful and lively together. _What's going on?_ she thought worriedly.  
  
"Calli's stream will be over soon. One more minute." Amelia answered resolutely. The three girls continued to sit in awkward and restless silence. After a little less than a minute Calliope came out of her room, stretching her arms. As soon as she entered the living room, she noticed her three colleagues sitting around the table. "Hey, what are you doing?" Gura and Kiara gave each other a surprised look. "How did you know she was going to finish the stream now?" Kiara asked curiously. "Uh? What are you guys talking about? What about my stream?" Amelia cleared her throat soundly once again. "Calli, please, sit down. I have to tell you something very important, I need ì all three of you to listen."  
  
Calli raised an eyebrow and showed obvious confusion on hearing those words. It took her a little while to realize that the detective's tone of voice was genuinely serious. "Ok, ok, tell us everything." She said as she sat down in the chair next to the phoenix. _Ok Watson. You can do it._ _You will see that they will believe you and help you_ , thought the time traveler, gritting her teeth. With slightly trembling lips she opened her mouth, ready to speak, but she was once again interrupted by Gura who looked at her worriedly. "What about Ina?". The shark girl sought Kiara and Calli's approving gaze, then returned to look at Amelia again.  
  
"Ina must not know. Ina absolutely can’t know about what I am going to tell you." Amelia frowned. Her expression showed both severity and guilt. "Why?" Calli asked in a calm voice. "Because it is important that they don’t know about what I am about to tell you, otherwise it would have been useless." Kiara gasped at those words. "Them? Are you talking about Ao-chan?"  
  
The detective sighed. An almost imperceptible grimace appeared on her face upon hearing that nickname. "Yes, them. The Ancient Ones." Amelia ran a hand through her blond hair. She was getting nervous, slowly losing the ardor that burned inside her until a few minutes ago. _Relax Watson. Don't go around it and tell them_.  
  
"What I am about to tell you will sound very strange, almost impossible to believe. You have known me for almost two years by now, and I hope you can trust me. So please listen to me carefully." Amelia's voice was sounding forcibly calm. The other girls easily noticed that the detective was trying to look at ease. It was evident that something was troubling her. "Don't worry Ame. Tell us" Gura said smiling gently. "Besides, there aren't many strange and impossible things for us to believe, are there?" Kiara added. "If you would just look at the people on this side of the table, you'd have a phoenix, a nine thousand-year-old shark and Death’s apprentice. I’d say it’s strange enough already" Calli noted with a warm smile.

Amelia smiled in turn, closing her eyes for a few seconds and then reopening them and staring intently at the three friends across the table. "My name is Amelia Watson, I was born on the 6th of January, 2096 and yes, you could say that I am truly a time traveler." Kiara, Gura and Calli looked at her with slight sense of surprise in their eyes. Excluding some bizarre anecdotes, Amelia had never talked much about her past. Despite that, as the HoloMyth girls spent months and months together, the idea that the detective was also a real time traveler began to become plausible.  
  
"Do you remember all the times that during my streams or while chatting among us, I told you about all the misfortunes that have happened to me. All those crazy little things that have caused numerous damages and scars to me and my family?" Gura turned her head slightly to the side, then she widened her eyes as she suddenly remembered. "The famous Watson curse, or whatever that was."  
  
"Well, not everything I've said is one hundred percent true. Most of them are, but some things had turned out differently." Amelia cleared her throat again. She ran the fingers of her right hand nervously between those of her left hand. "That sort of curse is essentially true. It caused my family so much pain. So much so that I lost some people I cared about because of it." Amelia's gaze now was fixed on the surface of the wooden table. Hearing those words, the other three girls couldn’t help but feel a shiver run down their backs. Before they could give their condolences, or say anything else, Amelia spoke again. "The cause of that misfortunes lies essentially in those beings. The Ancient Ones."  
  
The detective looked up at her interlocutors, now feeling almost angry and frustrated. "The Ancient Ones are practically like gods of knowledge, although their knowledge is a dark and forbidden one. Yet as the name suggests, the Ancient Ones are but a collection of beings who share one mind while having more than one will. Some are curious beings, thirsty for knowledge. Others are mischievous beings, interested in the oddities of humans and other mortals. Others are serious beings focused on their survival and that of their cult. Then, among them there are also some who feed on suffering. According to my investigations, the Ancient Ones belong to another plane of existence. The book and the cult are their anchor in our world. Likewise, the priest or priestess is their spokesperson. Their receptacle. Sowing pain and madness is their way of enjoying the time they spend in our world. The greater the fear they can instill, the greater the likelihood that people will bow to their worship." Amelia gritted her teeth, fighting the urge to say that what she was explaining was all a joke. The confused and incredulous faces of her friends were hard to watch, but she braced herself and went on.  
  
"In two days, those evil beings belonging to the Ancient Ones who most yearn for dominion, will test Ina to see if she is worthy of being their priestess." The three girls gasped. "In two days!? What does that mean!?" Calli said with wide eyes. "Ina will be temporarily possessed by them. The Ancient Ones cannot control her if she does not allow it, yet they have been waiting and preparing for this moment for a long time. In all my attempts, whatever I did, it was always the same day, around the same time." Gura showed a confused expression. "Attempts?" Amelia shifted her gaze to the shark girl briefly, without saying a word she smiled softly, then looked back at all three of them at once.  
  
"The Ancient Ones will try to convince her that she must be able to sacrifice those she loves and will attack you. Ina will eventually surrender and ask the Ancient Ones to stop torturing you. With this, the Ancient Ones will curse Ina, causing her life itself to become an omen of bad luck."  
  
"She will attack us… She will be cursed… I don’t understand" Kiara's lips trembled faintly. Her voice clearly indicated the indecision she had to believe or not believe those words. Amelia sighed and gestured for them to wait for her. She got up from her chair and moved to her room where she retrieved her jacket that she was holding folded over her right arm. She slowly came back to the kitchen noticing the murmur between the three incredulous girls. _Come on Watson_ , she thought, _with this they will have to believe you_.  
  
  
Amelia sat down again, analyzing the gazes of her friends. "If she really will attack us in two days, why are you just telling us now?" Calliope asked frowning. The detective immediately felt that the reaper's words were tinged not with hostility, but with genuine confusion. "Because as I told you before, for no reason we can let the Ancient Ones discover that we know what they want to do. Even the smallest clue could make them change their plans and make us lose the surprise effect. That's why I had to, in all this time, pretend like nothing happened"  
  
Amelia took the precious photo of her from the secret pocket of her jacket. She looked at it carefully with a hint of a smile on her lips. "The Ancient Ones in the future will continue to torture her mentally and emotionally. And not just her. Following what happened in my timeline of origin, HoloMyth would end up being disbanded and you would never hear anything from her again. She isolated herself completely, in order not to make anyone suffer, ending up suffering by herself for years. " Amelia shifted her gaze to her friends. The detective blue eyes were now showing a much more intense determination. "You see for yourself, don't you? Ina is a human, but she doesn't look like a normal human. The squishy hair, the pointy ears… Since the time she came into contact with the Ancient Ones her very being had changed, granting among the various things a great longevity. A longer life for a longer suffering. "The phoenix and the reaper exchanged worried glances. Among all that information there was something that felt off. Something strange among many other strange things.  
  
"So, you come from the future, right?" Calliope said in an uncertain voice. "But that means ..." She hesitated, but was assisted by an equally hesitant Kiara "The five of us ..." Amelia nodded slowly as Gura moved her eyes first to the reaper and then to the phoenix, unaware of what her two genmates were trying to say.  
  
"HoloMyth was supposed to be a group for just the four of you. I wasn't part of it. I wasn't born yet after all. I had to modify the past slightly in order to be a member as well." Amelia admitted in a firm voice. “I discovered you during my childhood. You were all so funny and lively. Your jokes, your songs, your dynamics. I was amazed. I wanted to be like you" The gaze of the time traveler was lost in the void for a moment, sinking into melancholy. "But if HoloMyth was disbanded, how could you find out about us?" Kiara asked, looking for Calliope and Gura's approving gaze.  
  
Amelia sighed for the umpteenth time. _Tell them_ , she thought. _Just tell them_. "It was Ninomae Ina'nis who cursed my family with misfortune." She coughed quickly bringing her hand to her mouth. Relieved by the fact that it was just a false alarm, she spoke again. "During her voluntary exile, Ina pushed away all the people who tried to approach her. You too tried to look for her, but without success. Only one person succeeded. A young doctor. The only one who managed to make her smile again and make her forget, temporarily, her curse." Having said these words Amelia dropped the photo that she was holding between her fingers on the table, allowing her friends to see it.

"Wh-What? it's not possible..." Calliope murmured nervously touching her hair. Kiara gaped at the photo as Gura stared at it with wide eyes. Without changing her expression, she shifted her gaze to the detective. "Ame ... what does this mean?" The photo was worn, with a few small spots. In general, it was rather faded and discolored, but it was still in good enough conditions to understand what it was portraying. Three people. A lively-looking child holding a woman and a man by their hands. The man looked distinguished, well dressed, although he had an enthusiastic smile on his face, not unlike that of the child. The third figure was a woman, slightly shorter than the man. She had very long dark hair. Two kinds of yellowish tentacles framed her face. The phoenix, the reaper and the shark girl had no difficulty recognizing her as Ninomae Ina'nis. A slightly older version of their friend, more mature-looking, but not too distant from her current image.  
  
Amelia waited a few seconds, so that all the girls had observed the photo carefully and returned their gazes to hers. Once again, the time traveler's expression had changed, softening into a vague smile steeped in melancholy. "That’s the young doctor. That’s the person who managed to make her smile again and who ended up being one of the many victims of his beloved wife’s curse. Walter Watson, my grandfather."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya!  
> First things first, Amelia is a time traveler. It was a matter of time before someone would have written about her being related to another Hololive member, right?  
> I thought of a vague concept of a story while listening to Amelia talking about how her granma was apparently "cursed". Then that concept evolved in this FF.  
> I hope the Iname cult won't hate me for this.  
> Thank you for reading!


	3. Paradox

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Time travel, as I know it and have experienced it personally, follows a fundamental rule. You cannot change the past".
> 
> "It must be Kiara." 
> 
> In one way or another, they all knew that however things turned out, there was no happy ending.

Amelia looked intently at her incredulous friends. It was painful to see them like that. "So you're telling us that Ina is actually your grandmother, right?" Calli asked scratching her head. Her eyes scanned here and there, quickly, searching for some kind of meaning of all the things she had just heard. "Yes" the detective replied softly. Upon hearing the response, Calli snorted again, as if in that moment she had more doubts than before. Kiara and Gura were speechless. They exchanged a few questioning looks, but nothing more.  
  
_They don't believe you_ , Amelia thought. _It's normal that they don't believe you. It is too absurd_. The detective's eyes, now wet with tears, were focused on her friends. She thought about all the work she had done. Reaching that timeline before HoloMyth debuted in order to be one of them; the friendship she believed she had built with them. Was it all fake? Wasn't that enough? Would her last attempt also end up in a failure? As these thoughts buzzed in her head torturing her, Amelia involuntarily began to cry silently. She didn't even notice the tears slowly making their way down her cheeks.  
  
"Ame? Why are you crying?" Gura immediately asked. "N-nothing" the detective’s voice began to lose tone, broken by almost imperceptible sobs. Kiara looked at her with compassion "Amelia..." The time traveler brought both hands to cover her face tears. "You don't believe me, don’t you?" she said between a sob and another. "How you could ever believe me…" Calli, hearing those words, leaned her back against the chair’s backrest and sighed. "It's hard to believe all these things. It's very strange, you can't blame us." she sighed again "That doesn't mean we don't trust you."  
  
"Exactly. Sure, it's hard to think about accepting all these things. It feels crazy to think that our friend and genmate is actually the granddaughter of another friend of ours. It’s really hard" Kiara said smiling warmly "But I want to believe you. I trust you". Amelia raised her head to her friends. She met the welcoming gaze of the phoenix and the calm smile of the reaper. Gura, on the other hand, was frowning. She looked genuinely pissed. The shark girl stood up and took a few steps towards the detective.  
  
Gura took a deep breath without taking her gaze from Amelia's blue eyes. She looked at her with anger and, without a warning, she slapped her hard enough to leave a mark on her face. "You really are an idiot, Uh! False, liar, but most of all ..." The shark girl gritted her teeth strongly as her own eyes too became more and more wet with tears "... you're stupid! Completely out of your mind! How can you even imagine that I wouldn’t believe you!? How can you even doubt my trust in you!?" As soon as she said those words, the shark girl lunged at Amelia, hugging her tightly. The detective kept crying, struggling to speak between the sobs. "Sorry... I’m so sorry…" she said.  
  
Kiara and Calliope exchanged a knowing look, smiling slightly. The phoenix and the reaper both thought that letting them have a moment for themselves was best. They looked at them in silence. Kiara in particular gazed softly at the sweet scene between the time traveler and the shark girl. Calli could not help but being distracted by the phoenix sitting next to her. She felt her heart skip a beat inside her chest. She couldn’t truly understand it, but looking at Kiara with such a serene and warm expression had that effect on her.

  
  
A few minutes passed before Amelia and Gura could get themselves together. The natural light in the room shifted from a pale yellow to an intense orange. It was already evening. The girls looked at each other with greater determination and complicity. Each one had returned to their place. The phoenix, the reaper and the shark girl had dozens and dozens of questions to ask Amelia and it was hard to even think where to start. The smartest question at that time was in fact the most trivial. "So ... What exactly will happen in two days?" Gura asked.  
  
"Ina will go grocery shopping and ask one of you to accompany her. You will go outside the Cover Campus. On the way back home the Ancient Ones will take control of Ina and attack who is accompanying her. Normally that person would be Kiara" explained the detective. Calli upon hearing Kiara’s name gulped. She almost seemed more worried about the phoenix than the phoenix herself. "Normally? What does it mean normally?" Kiara asked. "Yeah. Even before you talked about attempts if I remember correctly, right Ame?" Gura added.  
  
"Yes, you are right. This is not the first time that I have tried to fulfill this personal mission of mine. I have been trying for some time to ensure that Ina could have a happy life. There have been several attempts in the past. Seven to be precise. This is it the eighth one. In all those attempts, I was just an external person, trying to act in the shadows. I tried to condition you into make sure that Kiara was not going, or to make sure that there was no need to go to grocery shopping in the first place. Whatever I did, the Ancient Ones still ended up winning "Amelia's voice seemed firm and clear. The other girls, however, perceived that there was a veil of sadness in her words.  
  
"How is it possible that they always won? That in spite of everything things didn't change?" Calli asked, tapping a finger rhythmically on the table. "The Ancient Ones adapted. They attacked you only if they could take you one on one. If you were in group, then they threatened Ina's life to keep yours in check." the detective took the photo from the table and fondled it gently, looking at the image of her grandparents and her father.  
  
"Would they even go as far as attacking Ina? Wouldn't that be a contradiction?" Gura was clearly confused. The more information Amelia gave her, the less she understood. Amelia sighed and then spoke again. "Unfortunately not. The priestess is a replaceable role. The cult itself is the nest of the ancients. Once a priestess dies, the Ancients would immediately manifest themselves to another cultist to promote him to priesthood. Ina's life is not that important to them. ". Calli snorted at those words. "So we can't do anything at all? Couldn't we simply destroy the book for example?"  
  
"The book of the Ancient Ones? No... unfortunately that’s also out of question. I've already tried..." Amelia's face was shrouded by sadness as her lips began to tremble slightly. "I tried to burn it and destroy it, but the moment I did that, the Ancient Ones were banished to their plane of origin and Ina with them." Calli nodded, snorting again. "I see..." she glanced at the shark girl and the phoenix, then she turned her eyes to the time traveler again. "Amelia. Do you have a plan?"

The detective clenched her fists and thumped them lightly on the table. Then, she returned the reaper's gaze. Before she could say what she had in her mind, she coughed again. She felt a slight pain in her chest. She instinctively moved her right hand to her mouth, catching drops of blood. The three girls looked at her worryingly trying to make sure if she was ok or not. _I'm supposed to tell them about this too, huh?_ she thought. "Yes. I have a plan. And I'll explain it in a minute. First, I need to tell you something important. You should know, after all.” The three girls gulped, settling into their respective chairs as Amelia got up from hers, starting walking up and down in the kitchen.  
  
"This isn't a just a time machine." she said running her fingers over the surface of her clock. "It's some kind of repeater or something like that. It's my mother's invention. A contraption that resonates with the latent power of the Ancient Ones that flows in the blood of the Watsons, since my family is related to Ina. Originally, its function was that of limiting the effects of the curse on the bearer, so that it did not affect too much the people around us. My brother was able to transform it into a device that exploits that latent power instead of just containing it. This allows us to do many things. Time travel, for example. However, there is a contraindication..." Gura and Kiara were listening intently, while Calliope had already noticed the bloodstains on the detective's hands. She rested her back on the chair’s backrest once again, as if she already knew what Amelia was going to say. "Each time jump consumes my body. To put it simply, It slowly kills me"  
  
Gura widened her eyes that started to tremble, not knowing where to look. Kiara glanced at the reaper, before turning back to the detective. "How much time do you have left?" Amelia let a forced smile appear on her face, as if to play down the situation. "I have no idea. It could be less than a year, or twenty. The fact is that my health is in quite bad conditions right now. I can't afford to fail again this time because I wouldn't resist another time jump." Gura opened her mouth, but the words wouldn’t come out. She was trying as hard as she could, but she felt like she was stuck. Her mind was confused and clouded. After a few seconds, she began to stammer. "But if ... if we manage to save Ina, you would not be cursed and therefore you would no longer have any problems ... Right?" The shark girl turned immediately towards her other two friends looking for their gazes "Right? Calli? Kiara?" The phoenix and the reaper stood silent, not really knowing what to say.  
  
"That's not how it works Gura. I'm sorry." Amelia said approaching the shark girl and ruffling her hair. "Time travel is really a difficult thing to explain. Simply put, every time a person travels in time, upon arrival, they split the timeline, creating a new one while the original one remains unchanged." Amelia took another look at the shark girl who was now holding back her tears. She was visibly confused and she didn't seem to understand.  
  
The detective sighed deeply, looking for the complicit glances of the other two friends who stood in silence frowning. "Time travel, as I know it and have experienced it personally, follows a fundamental rule. You cannot change the past". Gura wagged her tail slowly, turning her head up, letting herself be caressed by Amelia's hand. "What do you mean?" she asked faintly. "What would be the point of your mission then?" Kiara asked in turn. "As I told you, my goal is to make sure that there is at least one timeline where Ina is happy and can continue having fun with you. The past cannot change. This means that as far as we are concerned, as far as my timeline of origin is concerned, Ina has already been cursed, she has already met my grandfather Walter, she ended up having me as her granddaughter and she went into depression seeing how her curse hurt her family. We cannot change those things. What you can change is what will happen in your future from here on out, because it is still variable."  
  
Calli rested her elbows on the table and then rested her head in her hands. She looked at the table for a few seconds, inhaling and exhaling deeply. She looked up at Amelia, showing her a desolate expression. "Ame ... that means you're doing all of this for us, but you're not going to get anything out of it, right?" Amelia hinted a smile "More or less, yes. I would say that knowing that you are happy and safe is still something though" Calli moved her gaze again on the table, frowning and concentrating carefully on a thought that flashed in her head. "So your attempts ..." The detective stopped ruffling the shark girl's white hair and instead began stroking it. "Yes. Every one of my failures is actually one more timeline where you are in misery. I guess living with this awareness is the curse's way of making me suffer." She let out a strangled, sour laugh, as if she were feeling hostility towards herself. "Because of that, whatever happens, we have to make this timeline the best it can be. It's the last chance we have. I don't want to die knowing that I've done nothing but make things worse."

Kiara was in the kitchen preparing dinner while the other three girls were setting the table. There was mostly silence in the room apart from the sizzling oil which the phoenix was using to prepare her iconic fried chicken. From time to time, the girls exchanged compassionate glances. In one way or another, they all knew that however things turned out, there was no happy ending. After a few minutes they were all four at the table, each tormented by different thoughts. The silence was broken by Kiara, as per usual. She took a deep breath and suddenly she resumed behaving in a cheerful and lively way, as if nothing had happened. She began teasing her other three friends for their long faces and ended up making them laugh and distract everyone from their respective thoughts and fears.  
  
About half an hour had passed when they finished dinner and went back to the table this time to discuss the detective's plan. "To keep it simple" Amelia began in a calm but concise voice "we have to keep in mind four fundamental points." The detective showed her right hand to the other girls in a fist. Then she raised her forefinger and started talking "First. We have to make it all happen in the morning. Normally it would happen in the afternoon, but that part of the city is full of people at that time. Going in the morning would limit the harm that could happen to the innocents." Calli raised an eyebrow. "And is it possible?" Amelia nodded. "Of course, I have already done it in one of my attempts. It will be enough to advise her to go in the morning. There will be no other differences. However, we must persuade her without arousing any suspicion or we might risk causing the Ancient Ones to attack later.”  
  
Kiara, Gura and Calli exchanged a quick glance and nodded, then went back to listening to the detective. The latter resumed speaking after having also raised her middle finger "Second. We must fight them with all our strength in order to protect ourselves. Obviously the goal is not to harm her, but to prevent the Ancient Ones from harming us. Don't think of Ina as a friend when she is possessed. If one of us falls, it will be easier for the Ancient Ones to curse her." The three girls nodded again, albeit with a sadder expression. "Third" Amelia raised her ring finger. "We must fight her to prevent the Ancient Ones from hurting her. The moment they realize that they can't beat us, they will try to use Ina as a hostage so that we will be forced to limit ourselves."  
  
Kiara snorted upon hearing those words. The idea that the Ancient Ones could play with Ina, using her as a replaceable puppet, made her quite angry. Amelia raised her little finger, placing one of her syringes that she was holding in her thigh-belt. The liquid inside it wasn't the usual bright blue, but more of a dark purple. "Fourth and last, we have to believe in her and make her believe in us. The best thing to do would be to inject this special dose of the Waston Concoction rigorously in her neck and rigorously after the Ancient Ones have manifested." Gura tilted her head questioningly. "What's that?" The detective lowered her fingers and gripped the syringe. "This is a special drug. Prepared by experimenting on myself, since I have the same blood as her. It serves to quell the hold the Ancient Ones have on her. It is a mere palliative. It is useless if we cannot stand up the Ancient Ones as it is useless if we do not make sure that none of us, Ina included, is severely harmed"  
  
"So you're telling us that whatever we do, Ina driving out the Ancients and regaining control of herself, it's all up to her?" Calli asked while scratching her head. "Basically yes. We can only help her and make things easier for her, but nothing more."  
  
The three girls continued talking for a few minutes, evaluating possible variables and discussing what to do what not to do. They didn't have much time to talk anymore, as Ina would soon be returning home. It was during the secure last minutes of discussion that the air again was filled with tension. "About the one who’s going to accompany Ina… It must be Kiara" Amelia said concisely, avoiding her phoenix's gaze. "Why?" Calliope asked vaguely estranged by such frankness. "Besides the fact that it normally would have me, I guess that's the most logical solution, right?" Kiara said smiling at the reaper. "I could go instead," Calliope said, looking intently into the phoenix’s purple eyes. "No, it must be Kiara." Amelia interrupted her in an increasingly serious and almost aggressive voice.  
  
"It's not just about risking Kiara’s life though" Calli's voice was becoming just as serious while facing the time traveler "From how you talked about it, the Ancient Ones will try to torture us to make Ina surrender to them, right?" Amelia nodded without adding a word. "What are you worried about, Calli? Are you afraid that she will hurt me too much?" Kiara's iconic laugh was accompanied by an apprehensive smile. It was amazing how despite everything, the phoenix always managed to be herself. Gura noticed in that moment Calliope's face darken again. The shark girl felt a chill going down her spine.  
  
"Ame, I could go in her place, I am literally immortal. Gura too who is small and nimble-" The reaper was suddenly interrupted by Amelia who glanced at the phoenix briefly before speaking "It must be Kiara. It must be her" Calliope got up from her chair, slapping her hands on the table. "Why Watson? Why does it have to be Kiara?" she asked aggressively. Amelia's only reaction was another very quick glance at the phoenix. Calliope saw guilt in those eyes. However, it wasn't just guilt, there was something else. Something she didn't understand the meaning of. Fear. "Answer me! Why can't I go?"

"It must be Kiara! End of the speech." Amelia slammed her hands on the table in turn, being careful not to damage the syringes. Calli snorted loudly. "What are you hiding from us Ame?" She looked down at her. She knew in her heart that if there was anything the detective didn't want to say, it was probably for their own good. However, knowing that did not diminish her desire to know. She gritted her teeth hard, but before she could respond to Amelia again, she was interrupted by Kiara, who touched her hand softly. "Calli, don't worry. It's okay." The phoenix smiled genly at her beloved reaper. Calli snorted once more before sitting back down and crossing her arms "Fine".  
  
Gura looked at her three friends one by one. She wasn't understanding much of the situation and she felt so helpless. Especially now that she knew that Amelia had little time left to live. What's the point of having such a long life, if those you want to keep close to are destined to disappear in a short time? These thoughts in her head didn't stop her from noticing a vibration on her phone. It was Ina. She had texted that she would be back home in about twenty minutes. The other three girls also noticed the message that had been sent to their shared group. Knowing that the priestess would be home shortly, each of the girls went to their own rooms.

  
  
Calli laid down on the bed, trying to metabolize all the information and revelations obtained in the previous hours. She continued, periodically, scratching her head. She was genuinely nervous. _Why I’m afraid? What I don’t know?_ The reaper thought. _I have to know_. Calli quickly got to her feet, exiting her room and going towards Amelia's. She knocked on the door, and it took just two seconds for the detective to open and let her in.

"I felt like you were coming," Amelia said with a bittersweet smile on her face. "You really want to know, uh? The reason why it must be Kiara". Calliope glanced at the time traveler, clenching her fists. "Tell me"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly longer chapter that brings some plot points.  
> Originally this should have been two separate chapters, but i ended up merging into one. Mostly because i really want to work on the 4th chapter that will be kind of grim.  
> I hope you look forward to it.  
> I also hope there are not too many typos and other mistakes. It's 4am and i really should go to sleep now.


	4. Ablaze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I get it."   
> The reaper's eyes had filled with tears that slowly but surely made their way down her face   
> "I get it. Please. Don't say anything more."   
> Calli turned, and moved towards the door. 
> 
> "We can save them. We can make sure that no one has to suffer this time. Do you understand it?".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: It's going to be dark

The sun had disappeared behind the horizon while even the warm colors of the afternoon were making way to darker shades of blue. The reaper stood in the middle of the room with her arms crossed and a frown on her face. A few steps away from her, the detective was leaning against the wall of her bedroom, turned towards the window, looking up at the slowly darkening sky. Amelia, without turning to the pink-haired girl, sighed as her eyes showed a deep sense of guilt. "It must be Kiara." she said in a calm voice. "It has to be her because it can't be us."  
  
"What do you mean by that?" Calliope said, gritting her teeth to unload the frustration that was building up inside her. The time traveler turned her blue eyes to the reaper's crimson ones. She didn't say a word. It was her melancholy look that made her understand what was going inside her head. Calli snorted, bringing one hand to her side and the other to rub her temples. "I know I'm not the most insightful person in the world, but even I can understand why you don't want to let Gura take her place." Amelia's gaze faded for a moment, sinking into a fleeting glint of sadness. Then she moved her head back to the window, admiring the dark sky. "Gura is not like you. She may have a considerable longevity, but she is a mortal. Like me. I tried... I made attempt. I tried to change the variables."  
  
Calli was taken aback when she saw Amelia shiver. The detective lightly stroked her left arm with her right hand. "It’s still so vivid in my mind... I remember it like it was yesterday. The sound of her spine breaking. They were laughing. They were laughing as she screamed." the detective brought her dejected gaze again to meet that of the reaper. "It’s terrible. Really terrible." Calli said losing every single drop of anger she felt. Just imagining such a scene made her nauseous. She may have been an apprentice of death, but at that point she had grown too fond of her friends. The idea of their demise deeply troubled her.  
  
"I get it Ame. You want to protect her. But I still don't understand. Why Kiara? She's virtually immortal, sure, but it doesn't change the fact that she too can die. What if she ends up being reborn in another dimension? What would become of HoloMyth? Why can’t I go instead? On paper, considering that I can't die since I'm not actually alive, I'd be the best choice" the detective shivered hearing those words. Again pain, sadness, and something else appeared in her blue eyes. Fear. _What are you afraid of Ame? What are you not telling me?_ Calli thought instinctively approaching the detective. She put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. "Amelia ..."  
  
The detective shook her head to banish all the negative thoughts that haunted her brain. She then looked at the reaper with stern eyes. "You are not the best choice. You are the worst one" Calli took a step back, tilting her head slightly in annoyance. "Why?" she asked firmly. The time traveler sighed running a hand through her blonde hair and shaking her head in an attempt to ward off her most disturbing memories. "As you said, you are practically not alive. I did my research. I know a lot about you. The body you have is a human body that you have borrowed. Basically, a perfectly normal body, but that imitates what’s your actual being. You cannot grow old and you cannot die. Do you know what that means? " Calli looked at her with an interrogative air, not understanding where Amelia was going. "Stop dancing around it Watson."  
  
"You are literally unable to die. Keep in mind that the Ancient Ones don't want to play with us and then throw us away. They want to torture us, as much as possible, so that Ina's will collapses. In cases like these, morbid as it may sound, knowing that at some point you can die, it's a relief. " Amelia sat on the bed, motioning for the reaper to sit beside her. "So what? I don't care if I feel any pain. That's not what scares me." Calli said firmly. "Would you be more afraid if I told you that your suffering would also be someone else's suffering? Amelia took her watch. Calli raised an eyebrow as she watched the detective squeeze her watch hard." Tell me what happened Ame. I want to understand".  
  
"Are you sure you really want it? I’d like to remind you that those timelines exist and cannot be erased." the time traveler said in a soft voice. Callì nodded firmly. "Fine." Amelia ran her fingers over the glass that housed the gears of her watch. She touched a button and then she concentrated, closing her eyes. When she opened them, they glowed dimly with a purplish light. Her hands also seemed to vibrate with the same faint light. "The best thing to do in this case is to show it rather than explain it to you." Amelia raised her hands holding them over the reaper’s head. "What are you doing?" Calli asked. "Don't worry. It's a small trick that can show some memories. It won't have any particular contraindications on my body. It will just make me feel a little tired and sleepy." Upon hearing these words, Calli took a deep breath as the detective’s hands rested on the reaper's pink hair. Calli was appalled as she perceived how her own senses were writhing in images and memories she had never seen.  
  
  


Calliope was on the ground, hidden behind the wall of a building in an alley overlooking a larger street. She wasn't really Calliope. She sensed it right away. She was shorter, different. It was Amelia's body. Perhaps that was why for a few seconds everything around her seemed foggy and unclear. She got used to it quickly, well sooner than she thought. When her sight and hearing became clearer, the scene that appeared before her struck her violently.  
  
"Oh, poor Ina'nis, don't cry. There's nothing to cry about". Those words were coming out from Ina's mouth, but the voice was different. It wasn't even a single voice, it was more like a chorus. Multiple voices echoing in the street. Some sounded like male voices, others female ones. Among these there was also that of Ina herself. "You don't have to feel sorry for them. You have to learn to let them go." Hearing these words, Calliope felt a shiver biting Amelia’s body as she saw herself, or at least the herself of those memories. She was hanging in mid-air, with her arm and legs entangled by the purple tentacles of the corrupted priestess. Her arm. The other one was on the ground resting on a pool of already dried blood.  
  
The reaper’s body was evidently battered. Full of bruises, cuts and blood-soaked. Calliope couldn't help but shudder to see her own expression so strained by the pain she was feeling. "Ina, don't listen to them!" the reaper cried panting. "Uh? Are you still talking? How many bones have we broken so far? Do we have to break some more?" saying these words, the tentacles around Calliope tightened their grip, writhing the reaper's immortal body as she screamed in pain.  
  
"Stop! Stop please!" a voice cried nearby. Calliope, from Amelia's eyes, saw the rest of the scene. Gura was lying on the ground, unable to get up. She seemed to be close to fainting. Kiara instead was holding her sword and her shield. She barely stood on her knees, bruised and with blood dripping from numerous wounds. "Stop it... I beg you" the phoenix continued to plead.  
  
"See Ina'nis, these friends of yours are strong, but they have one weakness. You. They can't stop us because they are afraid of hurting you." the chorus that came from Ina's mouth said. "And do you know what this weakness brings them?" without adding another word, the Ancient Ones who controlled the priestess tightened their grip on Calliope, once again making her scream in pain. It was heartbreaking. Gura was beating her fists on the asphalt, trying in every way to get up. Kiara, on the other hand, was crying. She had managed to get up, but her legs were shaking strongly.  
  
"What could we do to convince you Ina'nis? How about tearing her leg off this time?" the Ancient Ones continued. "What? You don’t want us to do it? Should I leave her alone? Come on. It's just a leg, and she can't even die. It's not that bad for her, isn’t it?" with that being said, the tentacles contorted once more, tightening around the reaper's thigh. Slowly they began to pull causing heartbreaking screams to be heard.  
  
"Stop, please" The phoenix cried clutching the sword in her right hand, too exhausted to use it. The possessed priestess kept pulling and the screams didn't stop. "Stop... please... please ... I beg you..." Kiara's voice was broken by tears. Calliope continued to observe the scene with disgust and horror, being able only to witness it from the eyes of Amelia. She felt the detective's body tremble with fear, unable to move.  
  
"Ina'nis, let's see how much your pink-haired friend can scream this time" the Ancient Ones sneered, continuing to pull, slowly, savoring the moment. "Don’t! Please… Stop…” Kiara was losing hope. By then, her voice had lost intensity, drowning in tears. The possessed priestess continued to laugh as the reaper squirmed in pain.  
  
In that very moment, Calliope felt something different. Something strange, baffling. It wasn't simply that her senses were Amelia's. No. Something was happening. As she saw what appeared to be Ina giggling while torturing the reaper’s body, her gaze shifted to Kiara, who was standing upright. The air around her felt cold, even though it was summer. Then, all of a sudden, the phoenix burst into flames.

Suddenly, Kiara's entire body was ablaze. A crackle of sparks accompanied the flush of heat that came from her. The clothes the orange-haired girl wore burned, revealing a silhouette completely engulfed in red, orange and teal flames. The phoenix's head was looking towards the priestess. Kiara had an absent gaze. She didn’t seem herself. She hadn't even noticed that even the bracelet she loved so much had been reduced to ashes. But at that moment she didn't care. Only one thing haunted her mind as her body blazed with infernal flames, hot enough to melt the asphalt beneath her feet. _Calliope_. Those screams of pain; those tears; that blood. It was too much. She had to protect her, she had to save her. Only that longing and fury she felt towards the Ancient Ones resounded in her mind. Nothing else.  
  
"Oh, the phoenix woke up, uh? Interesting" they said in a deep and sarcastic tone. "Ina'nis, if you want to live, it's time for you to surrender to us and leave us in control." From the purple mist that surrounded the priestess, dozens upon dozens of tentacles appeared writhing. "Stop resisting us Ina'nis. That phoenix must d..." The chorus of the Ancient Ones was cut short as the flaming girl charged towards them. Kiara firmly took hold of her sword and shield. In a moment she reached the possessed priestess and she moved her weapons almost imperceptibly. It barely took a second for the phoenix to finish her charge. She fell to the ground with a thud, dropping her weapons and instantly extinguishing from the flames, revealing her bare skin.  
  
Calliope watched the scene, but it was difficult to understand what had just happened. More than anything it was difficult to accept it. Kiara got up slowly on her knees, shivering from the cold now that her body smoked from the heat that enveloped her in contrast to the colder yet warm summer breeze. She shifted her gaze to the reaper. She was laying on the ground, agonizing, now with more broken bones than intact ones. The tentacles that wrapped her bleeding body had lost their vigor. It took her a few seconds to notice that there was no more purple mist and that the thick part of the tentacles lay charred on the ground. Kiara then turned her gaze to Gura, scared as she heard her moans of pain. The shark girl wriggled on the ground, crying. Her tail and some parts of her body had been burned by the phoenix’s flames, without her even realizing it. And Ina? Kiara noticed the heat-warped asphalt forming a trail right where she had embarked on her assault on the priestess. But there was no trace of Ina. Dozens upon dozens of charred tentacles at one end filled the great street where the fight had taken place. It took her a few more seconds before she perceived the last trace of fer friend. A smell. A disgusting stench of over-burned flesh. Like a blow to the stomach, a sense of sickness made the phoenix stagger as she lowered her eyes to the ground.  
  
Calliope felt the horror of the scene. She didn't need to have her own body to understand how terrifying that memory was and how painful it must have been to know that somewhere, in another time, such a thing had actually happened. Calli, however, was not ready for what happened next. She noticed Kiara raise her head once again. She looked at her big amethyst eyes. A shiver ran down her spine. The phoenix had that look. The look that Calli had seen over and over again during her work as a reaper. Those were the eyes of those who were broken inside, completely sunk in the darkness of their own guilt and suffering. The eyes of those who no longer wanted to live. What could happen to a phoenix like Kiara? What could it mean for someone like her who was literally unable to find her own end? Those were the eyes of someone who would probably be willing to continually punish herself, day after day, year after year, life after life, in an attempt to disappear. Calli saw utter emptiness in that look. Oblivion. She felt her heart tighten, her real heart, not Amelia's. She felt a pang so strong that it made her fear for her very life, even though she didn't actually have one. Then, without realizing what was happening, all the images, sounds and everything became more blurred and then it became all dark.  
  
  


Calli opened her eyes and took a deep breath. She was panting and her hands were shaking slightly. In front of her, the detective looked at her with a melancholy expression. _That’s why_. That’s what the detective was probably thinking, but she didn't say anything. Amelia brought her hands back to herself and slowly her eyes returned to blue, losing that purplish glow. "From that day on, Kiara stopped talking," she said in an extremely calm voice, but accompanied by a forced smile that emanated a sincere sadness. "Then, she stopped eating and drinking. Then, she began to—" Calli jumped up, interrupting the time traveler. "I get it." The reaper's eyes had filled with tears that slowly but surely made their way down her face "I get it. Please. Don't say anything more." Calli turned, and moved towards the door. "We can save them. We can make sure that no one has to suffer this time. Do you understand it?". At that point Amelia too seemed to be anguished, heartbroken by those dark memories. Calliope simply nodded, turning away from her. She opened the door and walked out of Amelia's bedroom.  
  
Ironically, the instant she found herself in the living room, she was taken aback as she saw Ina that had just gotten home. "Hey Calli! Are you okay? Are you crying?" the priestess said worryingly. The reaper felt a pain in her chest, as if her heart was enveloped in thorns. She smiled wistfully at her friend, shaking her head. "Don't worry Ina. Just a few thoughts in my head. Thanks." Calliope tried hard, gathering all the energy she had in her body so that she could change her expression to a more serene one. "Remember that if you need someone to listen to you, I’m here, ok?" the priestess replied, yawning slightly. She was clearly tired. Calli greeted her with a nod as she walked away, opening the door of the bedroom. Ina tilted her head vaguely confused. _That's Kiara's room, isn't it?_ she thought, then giggled to herself. _She probably wants to be comforted by her.  
  
_ The phoenix was taken by surprise seeing Calliope enter her room without any warning. As soon as she stepped inside, the reaper closed the door behind her and walked over to Kiara with her head down. "Calli, what's going on? Why are you in my room? Have you finally come to taste some chicken?" she said playfully. Calli looked up at the orange-haired girl who sat at her desk. Her tears welled up and it was getting harder and harder to hold them back. She had also begun to sob. She wanted so much to stop, but it was too difficult. "Eh! Calli!? why are you crying!? What happened!?" The phoenix jumped up, approaching the reaper. She put a hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her. In an instant, she felt her soft body envelop her in a tight hug. "Eh!? Calli!?" Kiara was petrified by the reaper’s affectionate action. "Shut up. Please. Just for a minute… Shut up." Calliope said as the tears became more and more numerous and difficult to hold back. The phoenix's surprised expression changed to a softer and warm one. She brought Calli's head to rest on her shoulder with her hand. Without adding a word, she began to gently stroke her pink hair as the reaper burst into tears. In her mind, along with the happiness of feeling the warmth of her beloved, light words echoed. _Everything will be fine, Calli. Everything will be fine._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya!  
> So... this was quite the dark chapter.   
> With this kind of story i didn't want to hold back on the more violent details.  
> I felt like they were needed.  
> I hope you liked this chapter, despite the suffering.


	5. Sunshine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I’m in debt.  
> When I discovered you a long time ago, the curse was tormenting us.  
> A lot.  
> You gave me my happiness back in that very difficult period of my life.“

**Sunshine**

"Breakfast is almost ready!" Kiara said cheerfully as she fumbled with pans and other kitchen utensils. In the Holomyth house, morning were always the same. Kiara prepared a big breakfast for everyone and then those who didn't show up at the table simply ended up skipping breakfast. After all, the phoenix in that house had apparently taken on the role of the stern mother. Apparently, since her willness to be strict was often broken by herself being extremely doting towards her roommates. So much that, after a few minutes she couldn’t see her friends coming to the table, she would get worried and she would knock on their bedroom door to check if everything was all right.  
  
That morning was quite cheerful and lively. Kiara was cooking humming some songs, and next to her there was Calliope who silently stood by the phoenix, helping her from time to time. Ina had finished setting the table and Amelia and Gura were double-checking the schedules each member had for that day. Most of them had streams set for the early afternoon, except for the reaper who would be streaming in the evening since she was going to work at the recording studio on a new song that afternoon.  
  
"Psst!" Ina whispered attracting the attention of the detective and the shark girl. Then she motioned at them to Kiara who was finishing cooking and her assistant besides her. Ina raised her eyebrows as if to point out the behavior of the two. Ina giggled and after her, albeit a little more forcefully, Amelia and Gura giggled too. While the phoenix cooked, the reaper stood unusually close to her. Calliope looked rather clingy that morning, which was a little out of place with the usual attitude of the pink-haired girl.  
  
"Calli, sorry, I have to take something from that drawer" Kiara said softly, hampered by the reaper's presence. With a "Guh", Calli's eyes widened briefly as she took a step back. On her face was the expression of an attention-seeking puppy downcast from being scolded. As soon as Kiara took the tool she needed from the drawer, she motioned to Calliope that she could step closer to her again. The reaper was very embarrassed as she finally realized how clingy she was being in that particular moment, but she walked over anyway, flushing red and head down. The phoenix smiled warmly at her and then stroked her hair quickly before turning and bringing the food to the table.  
  
The whole scene was accompanied by the suppressed giggles of the priestess, the detective and the shark girl. "I saw that yesterday she went to her room to be consoled" Ina confessed in a low voice. Upon hearing those words both Amelia and Gura made a simultaneous "Oooh" and then went back to giggling among themselves. It seemed that everything was going well and everyone was happy. Deep down, however, all the girls, except Ina, had their heads full of thoughts about what would happen the next day.  
  
Gura was worried about Amelia and the fact that she was sick, but despite that sickness she had shown the willingness to fight the next day. The shark girl couldn’t help but think about how dangerous could that be. Amelia felt a strong anxiety, mainly linked to the fact that now that she was close to the fateful moment, all the memories of her failed attempts were floating back to the surface in her head. Calliope was similarly still sad and hurt by what she had seen with the detective's trick. The idea of Ina being burnt alive, of Gura wounded and herself both severely wounded, and of Kiara with a completely shattered spirit, disturbed her deeply. She spent the previous evening and night hugging the phoenix while crying. Kiara spent that time at the computer as usual, keeping her company, pampering the reaper who ended up snuggling to her until she fell asleep.

As for the phoenix, her humming and lively attitude did not suggest a particular anxiety, nor fear or other similar things. She knew that the next day she would, in theory, be attacked and tortured, but for some reason she was optimistic. Was it because she had the girl she loved so much close to her?  
  
"Uh, the napkins!" Kiara said snapping from her thoughts. "Ina, you always forget to put napkins on the table," she continued in a playfully stern tone. "I ask for forgiveness!" the priestess answered in an equally playful tone. Ina got up to take the last things to put on the table and used the opportunity to add some snacks to the table. When she opened the fridge, she tilted her head slightly and then closed it again and turned to her colleagues. "We should go grocery shopping. The fridge is almost empty." Hearing those words Amelia, Gura and Calliope froze. They felt their blood freeze and a shiver ran down their backs. They worked hard to keep their expression, helping themselves by partially covering their faces as they were eating. As if nothing had happened and with incredible naturalness, the phoenix turned towards Ina and smiled at her "Yes, I noticed it too while I was cooking."  
  
"Oh, Ao-chan just reminded me that I promised Enma some sketches for character design tests." Ina said thinking with an absent gaze. The priestess raised an eyebrow, as if she were listening to someone in her head. "Humu humu, Ao-chan you're right. We should go tomorrow when the special offers start at the supermarket outside the Campus. What do you think?"  
  
"I think it's a great idea," Kiara answered, nodding. "We could go in the morning so we have the ingredients we need to make something special for lunch." Amelia, Gura and Calliope were impressed by the calmness with which the phoenix was directing the priestess with precision to go out in the least busy hour. "Decided then. And I’ll pay, so I can get forgiven for the cleaning that I haven't done yet." Ina said with a chuckle. "Uh! It's true! I had almost forgotten about it. Inaaaaaa!" Kiara screamed with her typical playfully aggressive attitude. "Oops!"  
  
  


The morning went on without any other particular events or interactions. Once breakfast was over, the girls retired to their rooms to prepare their respective streams. Also, thanks to private messages bypassing Holomyth's group chat, the four who knew of the Ancient Ones’s plans coordinated and talked briefly. There wasn't much to say. There was more anxiety and fear than anything else, although even those were a little lessened thanks to Kiara's great confidence and resolve.  
  
In the afternoon the members of Holomyth carried on their respective streams while Calli went out for her musical commitments. Amelia, Gura and Kiara carried on their respective streams for hours and hours, although for the phoenix it wasn't all that strange to have sessions of about eight hours or more. None of them wanted to risk interacting with Ina more than they should have had, with the fear of giving clues to the Ancient Ones.  
  
Even the evening went on without problems, with the girls who found themselves having dinner each at different times, due to the long streams. Only Kiara was careful to check that everyone was okay and had eaten. “Classic Doting Mama” as Amelia, Gura and Ina would say. The phoenix also found herself waiting for Calli, so that she could get her dinner ready. "Like a good wife would" in Kiara’s words.  
  


  
The stars had become visible with the arrival of the night. Their pale white light and the moon’s one faded the dark blue that filled the sky with a pale azure. It was not yet midnight, but out of the same fear and anxiety that the four girls had, most of them were already in bed trying to sleep. The only one who didn't even want to sleep was the reaper, who still kept thinking about what Amelia had shown her in those dark and grim memories.  
  
The detective was on her bed holding her photograph with her fingers. She looked at it, holding it gently. _This time we'll make it_ , Amelia thought. _Don't worry. This time everything will be fine._ Placing a hand on the yellow T-shirt she was wearing, she felt her heart beating wildly. She tried to regulate her breathing, hoping to calm down, but the tension was too much. At one point, however, she was distracted by a noise. Someone had knocked at her bedroom’s door. "Yes?" she asked calmly. "It's me, can they come in?" The voice was clearly Gura's. Amelia moved to sit on the bed. "Sure, come in".  
  
The door opened and closed as the shark girl entered the detective's room. The small figure had a sad expression on her face. Her tail protruding from the oversized shirt that served as her pajamas was shaking uncertainly. "Hey" Gura said softly. "Hey" the time traveler replied. "Can’t you sleep?" The shark girl lowered her head as she heard those words, and then fumbled with the hem of her shirt. "I can't. Can I stay with you for a while?" A chuckle escaped Amelia. "Come here, idiot." Saying this she threw herself back down on the soft bed, making room for Gura to be able to get in too.  
  
The two girls lay on their sides, with their feet covered by the sheets. They looked into each other's blue eyes. Both of their gazes had a vague sense of fear and anxiety, but for some reason, now that they were close, that fear had faded slightly. Gura wagged her tail slightly, without fully realizing it. Her hand had instinctively touched the detective's. "I'm scared" she said softly. Amelia sighed and then smiled at her. "It's normal. I'm afraid too." She brought her hand to squeeze the shark girl's and smiled at her once more. "You'll see that everything will be fine." Hearing those words, Gura couldn't help but feel more confident. It was a strange feeling. It was almost as if she felt protected. Amelia was something like nine thousand years younger than her, yet for some reason she felt safe around her.  
  
"Thanks Watson." she said with a hint of a smile. "And what about?" the detective raised an eyebrow. "Everything… You’re doing everything for us, practically wanting nothing in return." Amelia was a little surprised to hear those words. Without letting go of the shark girl's small, soft hand, the detective spun around, laying her back on the mattress. She looked distractedly at the ceiling of her room. " I’m in debt. When I discovered you a long time ago, the curse was tormenting us. A lot. You gave me my happiness back in that very difficult period of my life.“ Gura opened her mouth slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but no words came out and she just ended up listening to the detective.  
  
"At my grandparents' house, I discovered some old Holomyth videos. Your videos. Back then my grandmother had already stopped talking. She kept her distance from anyone. She had lost her husband to her curse and knew as well that her family was continually undergoing great and small misfortunes. She had isolated herself completely. " Amelia brought her other hand to her head, running it through the blonde hair. "In those old videos I saw you all and discovered a side of my grandmother that I had only vaguely seen when I was very young." The detective coughed slightly, causing Gura great concern. She only calmed down when the time traveler gave her a reassuring look.  
  
"Kiara was way too funny. Joyful, lively and a bit perverted too." Amelia let a chuckle escape from her lips. "I couldn't be down in the dumps when I watched her videos. Calliope too was such a dork. Adorable, but cool at the same time. Her songs were very good, I liked them a lot. Ina..." The detective hesitated for a while, then she spoke again. "Ina was happy. She was so relaxing, so playful, she joked around all the time. There was no curse, there was no pain. She even seemed to have a good relationship with those beings." Gura felt Amelia grit her teeth and grip with her hand. "She was so happy. I want her to be like that now too. I want to give her that happiness." Slowly the detective turned her head so that she was looking at the shark girl again. She smiled softly at her, without saying a word.  
  
"And me? Don't you have nice words for me?" Gura said playfully, expecting some joke from her friend. "You... When I discovered you, I found videos where you were singing. And your voice... I don't know... It was so strange. To think that you were so distant in time. Who knows where you were. Who knows if you were still there. It was so strange. That voice of your, so beautiful. I fell in love. I fell in love with you and you didn't even know I existed." Upon hearing those words, both the detective and the shark girl couldn't help but blush. "Oh..." Gura replied "Love?" She felt Amelia's hand squeeze hers even tighter than before, then the detective turned to the side again to look her deep into her eyes.  
  
"Yes. I have listened to that angelic voice of yours hundreds of times. I have listened to those songs over and over, until I memorized them and sang them with you, despite me not being that great at singing." Amelia let out an embarrassed chuckle. Then, all of a sudden, her expression darkened. "I have caused you so much pain. With all my attempts, I have only hurt you. I have failed so many times... I feel so worthless." With her free hand, Gura stroked the detective's cheek. "It's okay Ame. I know you did your best. I know you never wanted to cause that pain. You just tried to do what you could. And you did it for a noble mission. So, no. You’re not." The shark girl smiled and then pinched the time traveler's cheek. "You are not worthless. You are Amelia Watson, the person I love most. You are like sunshine to me. You are cheerful, vital, strong, confident, and also a little bit toxic hehe. No matter how many times you fall, you get up. You get up and you try again."  
  
Gura squeezed the blonde-haired girl's hand and leaned slightly closer to her. Both girls were blushing, with their hearts beating hard in their respective chests. "You are strong. You are someone I know I can count on. It doesn't matter how many times you have failed. I trust you. We will make it, ok?" Amelia was stunned by those sweet words. She brought her forehead to touch that of her shark girl, then with one hand she ruffled Gura’s white hair. "Idiot" she said, giggling. "This is the Amelia I love," Gura responded softly with a warm smile. She then slowly moved her head and with her soft lips planted a kiss on the detective's cheek. "My Sunshine". Amelia blushed, letting go of the shark girl's hand and hugging her tightly. Gura found herself with her head resting on the detective's soft chest. Her heart was beating so fast. There were no more morbid visions, noises of broken bones, and the pungent smell of blood in the time traveler’s head. At that moment Amelia's mind and heart were completely absorbed in that embrace, captured by the love she felt for the shark girl. Deep inside, they both wished that that moment would never end. They fell asleep like that, one embracing the other. That was the first peaceful night Amelia Watson had in a long, long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya!  
> Some build up for the upcoming major events.  
> I hope you appreciate some Takamori and Amesame fluff.  
> Domestic, peacefull fluff to ease the pain of last chapter's darkness.  
> I hope you like it!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!  
> My previous work was really more on the fluff side and didn't have much "plot".  
> This time i wanted to create something more story-driven. It's going to be dark.  
> I'm taking great creative freedom in writing this story so that it can be as intriguing as possible.  
> I'll do my best to keep releasing a chapter every few days.  
> I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Twitter: Kendrak98


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